


Flames

by Rain_Yayy



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-12 15:09:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7110640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rain_Yayy/pseuds/Rain_Yayy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When strange things start happening in the mental hospital where you work, you suddenly find your work investigated by the FBI. What you didn't expect, is to recognize one of the agents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Nurse! Could I get a refill on my coffee?”

You turn around, your H/C hair sweeping in the moment. A few of the elderly men fall silent as they watch your hair catch up with your person before returning to their game of backgammon.

You ignore other stares as you lean down to refill the coffee of the old lady that had called.

 

“Thank you darlin’, could you pass me the sugar as well?”

You smile politely and reach for the coffee cart on the other side of the table. Holding a bowl with sugar in front of her, and patiently watching as she drops 3 cubes of sugar in her coffee before pointing at the milk, you keep holding that smile on your face.

Honestly, you actually like working with these people. They always have so much to tell, so much life experience and the ones you get to meet, are the kindest people you’ve ever met.

Sure, there are some rotten apples, but isn’t that the case for like... Everywhere?

 

With the hot pot of coffee still in your left hand, you’re down to the use of only one arm and you’re trying to make the best of it as you put down the sugar and carefully manoeuvre your arm over the full table to get the milk, swiftly pouring a swig into the lady’s cup. Volunteering there as long as you have, means you learn people’s preferences.

 

“Are you going to join us for the next game of mahjong? “

Three pairs of crinkled, but kind eyes hopefully look up at you. Janice, Evelynn and Betty asked you this question very frequently. Sometimes, you would agree and play along, even though you would always end up losing.

Making a sad face, you refill the rest of their cups, helping them with whatever they wanted in their coffee.

“I wish I could stay ladies, but I am leaving in a few minutes for my shift at the mental hospital. Maybe I’ll join tomorrow.”

You try to choose your words carefully, like you always do, knowing that being in a nursing home, they might not even have tomorrow.

 

“Promise?”

 

“Oh Janice, you know my number one rule is to never make promises, because I might not be able to keep them.”

Janice shrugs. “It was worth a try.”

 

You smile. “I’ll see you later, okay? Till next time!”

 

The ladies wave at you a bit before returning to their game of mahjong. It has gotten intense and they are now focusing solely on their marble tiles. Several of the other residents wave at you as well before returning to their activities.

You pass the coffee cart to the supervisor before leaving the floor. It is a short trip to the break room, but it takes some navigating through a maze of almost identical hallways. But after all this time here, navigating these halls has become some sort of second nature.  Standing still in the middle of the break room for a moment, you allow yourself a moment to breathe, before you grab your bag and head for the exit. Suddenly, you notice movement from the corner of your eye. Instinctively, you come to a halt and a hospital bed rushes by just in front of you.

 

Without thinking, you grab hold of the bed, the continued movement of the bed almost dislocating your shoulder. You go after the bed while at the same time trying to stop it. It finally slows down near the end of the hallway and it comes to a slightly bumpy, but otherwise safe stop against the wall at the end of the hallway.

You sigh deeply before pulling back the covers on the bed, noticing it’s one of the bedridden patients. How the hell he and his bed came down here is a mystery to you, but one of the other nurses already comes running over to you. He’s one of the few you can trust to bring this to a good end and after exchanging understanding nods, you head out to start your shift at the mental hospital.

 

\---

 

It takes some reckless driving, crossing a few red lights and cutting several corners, but you show up in time for your shift at the mental hospital. After quickly changing into scrubs and heading over to the message board, you look at where you’re stationed for the afternoon, only to discover you’re on duty for The Vegetables. Which is the nickname for the cathartic patients, and the few physically disable patients.

It’s your least favourite part of work, because it means working with silent, nonresponsive people, force feeding medication, and having to change a lot of diapers. If you had to choose, you’d rather do the same thing with the elderly people at the nursing home. They at least talk back.

 

You grab a patient list and then go to get the necessities for each patient, stuffing them all on a small cart. Diapers, labelled bottles of pills, cups for the pills and several bottles of water are already neatly arranged on the cart. Before heading to your assigned wing, a co-worker goes over everything with a checklist before the two of you leave together.

Apparently, he is supposed to be rather handsome, but you don’t see it. You actually don’t really get the importance of beauty. Sure, it was aesthetically pleasing to have a face that would be considered beautiful, but in the end it is the inside that counts most.

 

“Hey”

 

“Hey Connor."

 

“So eh, what are you doing for lunch tomorrow?” He asks as he tags along.

The both of you are on Vegetable duty and you already know it’s going to be really awkward. Like it always is.

 

“As a matter of fact, I do. I’m volunteering at the nursing home.” You tighten your grip on the cart you’re pushing. He has tried this almost every time the two of you were scheduled together, but apparently “no” wasn’t in his vocabulary.

Every time you turned him down, he’d rebound with one of the other nurses here. As if that was supposed to make you jealous. Or any of the few other nurses that kept turning him down for that matter. At least there were still a few people around here that were capable of seeing what an annoying ass Connor was.

 

“But that’s what you did today as well. And yesterday!” His voice has already reached a whiny tone and you’re already dreading your Vegetable shift. The only thing worse than a Vegetable shift was a Vegetable shift with him. You decide to take a little detour, in the hopes of getting rid of his whining.

 

“And it’s what I’ll keep on doing. I rather enjoy it, you know?” Your answer almost sounds like a snarl, but he does not seem to notice it at all as he continues his desperate act.

 

“Just go on a date with me, just once” his voice sounds pleading.

 

“You can’t take no for an answer, can you? “ You sigh, slightly irritated as you cross the great hall, supposedly on the way to your first patient.

 

“I’ll stop when you say yes. I promise you, you won’t regret it!” He winks suggestively.

 

Rolling your eyes, you come to a stop in front of a secured door.

“Then the answer is definitely no.” You answer, unlocking the door.

 

He rushes in front of you, effectively blocking your way.

“I won’t let you pass until you say yes.”

 

But you’ve already expected this move from his side and being so focused on you, he unknowingly has entered the extra secured wing. The one where you can only check out of with the help of security.

Getting into the secured wing is easy. All that is needed is an access pass. Getting out was the hard part, because that’s when security needs to check you out. In case one of the patients steals your card, or any other weird scenario written up in the safety protocols.

And the guards in charge of the secured wing are on lunchbreak right now.

You simply close the door, effectively trapping him in the secure wing.

 

“No.”

 

You turn around again and head towards the right wing, leaving him pounding on the door like he was an actual resident of the secured wing.

That’s when a low chuckle reaches your ears. It sounds like someone’s amused, and you glance back for a second, meeting green eyes. Your heart seems to skip a beat. Immediately, you turn back your head and try not to look back as you keep on walking to your destination, ignoring the feeling of eyes burning in your back.

 

\---

 

“You sure we’re supposed to be in this asylum?”

 

Dean turns off the engine and the familiar rumble of the Impala dies down.

Sam quickly glances up from his laptop.

How he manages to balance that thing and several books in his lap whilst in the passenger seat of a moving car is a mystery.

 

“It’s a mental hospital. And yes, I’m sure.” Closing his laptop and stashing it somewhere out of sight, he eyes the building in front of them. Lots of movement can be detected on the right side, but the left side does not seem as lively.

 

“Is there a difference?”

 

Sam ignores that comment, continuing what he was saying, while stashing away his books.

“According to the rumours, this mental hospital is a hotspot for ghouls, wraiths, ghosts and whatnot. And the past few days, there has been a suspicious increase in so called suicides. Though I’m sure they’re not actually suicides.”

 

Dean gets out of the car, sticking his head right back in.

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” he asks, before pulling his head back out, taking in the mental hospital in front of him. It actually used to be a hospital before it was converted and the whole place just radiates… oldness. And creepiness, at least, to regular people.

 

In the meantime, Sam climbs out of the car too, straightening out his suit before they walk towards the mental hospital together, introducing themselves as agents Samuel Chase and Daniel Carroll.

 

As Sam talks to the woman in reception, Dean lets his eyes wander around. And they catch a rather attractive nurse, locking up a rather desperate looking nurse in what he later learns is the secured wing. Or the nuthouse, as he likes to call it, because that’s where the actual crazies get locked up. After seeing that, he can’t help but chuckle at the whole situation.

 

Apparently, his chuckle is louder than he thought, because for a second, the nurse looks back, E/C eyes meeting his green eyes, before quickly turning back around and continuing to whatever destination she had set.

Dean just takes the time to check that fine ass out. Because damn, if he could, he’d slap it right there and then, but unfortunately, that sort of thing was frowned upon in modern society. So he settles for staring at it before it disappeared from his line of sight.

 

“You coming, agent Carroll?” Sam asks, his voice urging him on to follow them. So Dean tears his eyes away from the hallway and follows after Sam.

 

“What was that all about?” Sam whispers to him.

 

“Oh, that? There was this nurse and...”

 

“Okay, okay, I get it. There was a hot nurse.” Sam interrupts “Just don’t get distracted too much here. We’re here on a job and I intend to bring it to a good end. It’s been a while since we’ve been on one”

 

Last job they did had Sam landing in the hospital and the Impala in a garage because the damage was too much for Dean to fix alone. Cas was no help at all either, too busy with whatever business he needed to attend. He was a mess and obviously needed time to himself. All he managed was to make them fake ID’s, but Dean wasn’t too happy about it. Using names of founding fathers was not their style.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I get it” Dean mumbles. “Do not get distracted. The sooner we finish here, the better. This place gives even me the creeps.”

 

“So it wasn’t just me.” Sam sighs in relief as they turn a corner, the path blocked by flimsy crime scene tape.

Dean pushes the thoughts of the nurse aside, and starts focussing, looking for clues.

 

\--,--,--,--


	2. Chapter 2

“What do you mean, when you say the suicides have stopped?”

Sam and Dean look at the hospital director, obviously trying to wrap their heads around the situation.

 

“It’s just like I said. Every once in a while there is a spike in suicides. We suspect it’s just like a chain reaction. Sometimes a suicide can unlock a lot of hidden feelings within people, and even staff is not immune from it. Despite our safety protocols, we regret having lost a few staff members back in the day. This isn’t an easy job you know, you have got to be in touch and in full control of your sanity, or else you’ll end up as one of the patients here.

We appreciate the FBI coming to check up, but I’m afraid there is nothing more you can do here.”

 

Sam and Dean exchange looks. They could have sworn that all the clues led to the conclusion that a vengeful ghost was present here. Which would only be a logical thing with everything going on here and the usual residents of the building.

The whole suicide chain reaction story seems to make sense, but something keeps gnawing at the back of their minds. They just can’t put a finger on it.

 

“Well then, if anything occurs ever again, don’t hesitate to call.” Sam reaches into his suit pocket and takes out one of their fake FBI contact cards, handing it to the director. It just seems like the right thing to do, since his gut feeling is telling him there is far more going on in the hospital than anyone will ever admit.

 

The director takes the card from Sam, and puts it on his desk without as much as looking at it. That gesture is as much as a hint as they need, and they take it as their clue to leave.

 

“Well then, I think our work is done here. Thank you for your cooperation, director.”

 

“My pleasure. Shall I show you two gentlemen to the door?”

 

“I think we’ll be able to find it on our own. Have a good day, director.”

 

Sam and Dean turn around in sync, leaving the room. As soon as they are out of the directors sight, they fasten their pace, heading for the room where a resident claims to have seen a monster right before the suicides stopped. A burning monster.

As a patient here, his credibility isn’t much, but they could just see in his eyes that this time was different from everything he ever went through, and it had scared the crap out of him.

Dean had even remarked that he probably will be committing suicide anyway, not being able to deal with the supernatural he just witnessed. It had just earned him a stern look from Sam.

 

Dean has interrogated some of the staff before, while Sam explored the hospital. The attending nurse, and several others had told Dean that the patient was simply hallucinating, but something still felt wonky. Aside from the fact that one of them had looked familiar to him. That was, until he realized it was the same nurse that locked up pretty boy nurse when he first arrived here.

The rest weren’t bad looking either. Shame he couldn’t stay around longer to get to know them better.

In the end, their work appeared to have been for nothing, having been sent away from a mental hospital that obviously had secrets that they were determined to uncover.

 

As Sam manages to unlock the door, Dean looks around, before catching a whiff of the scent wafting out of the room. Obviously there has been something burning and it just all smells really familiar. A few streaks of ash are smeared in a corner and he could swear there are still a few grains of salt around the doorstep when one of the nurses shows up behind him, asking them why they are still here.

 

“We just wanted to take one last good look around, making sure we missed nothing.” Sam turns around to face them from the middle of the room.

 

“I could have sworn this door was locked.”

 

“Must’ve hallucinated kid.” Dean pats their hair, intentionally messing it up as he leaves the room, Sam following not far behind as they go for the exit. This time for real.

 

Getting in the car, they look around to make sure that nobody is trailing them, before Dean starts the engine. As the Impala comes to life with an impressive roar, the brothers exchange glances, before turning away from the hospital.

 

\---

 

You hum happily as you refill people their coffee and in some cases, tea. In the end, Connor had not been able to get out and you got to do your rounds in comfortable silence. After all that, it was nice to be able to work your own pace, even if most of the patients were non-responsive.

All of a sudden, Vegetable duty isn’t as bad as you always found it to be.

Honestly, you even got to have a good talk with one of the physically disabled patients. You never realized how bad they were treated, as though they were as catatonic as The Vegetables and it was nice talking to him.

In your head, you had resolved to talk more to the patients that were physically disabled. It seemed to do them good as well.

One of the catatonic patients had shown movement so you put her under extra surveillance. She needed guidance once she actually woke up, though it might take some time.

 

“Well, don’t you seem awfully cheerful today?” One of the elderly men teases you. You give him a wink as you give him his daily extra. Today it is an extra slice of cornbread.

“How’d you know, George?”

George just smiles as he hides the extra bread in his shirt.

He likes to feed the birds from his window. It reminds him of the times he fed the birds together with his wife, before she passed.

It still makes him happy today, so you and a few others always make sure that he has something to feed to the birds every day.

The retirement home doesn’t allow residents to feed the birds from inside, to prevent birds flying in and causing a potential outbreak from a disease they might carry with them.

Most residents already have lowered immune systems and the retirement home wants to keep them healthy wherever possible.

But George always is very careful with the feeding, so everyone just lets him do his thing, as long as he keeps being as careful as he usually is.

 

“Did pretty boy nurse ask you out again?”

Residents love stories about him, even though you aren’t supposed to share too much information about your work in the mental hospital.

“Yes, he did.”

 

The whole common room falls silent as heads turn your way.

“This time we were scheduled to work together…” You start your story.

The room collectively sighs, feeling for you as they have heard enough stories about him.

As you get in to your story, the whole room reacts on the exact right moment with the exact fitting response.

Secretly, you enjoy the attention they are giving you.

“So I locked him in the secure ward, and they haven’t been able to get him out for hours.”

Everyone bursts out laughing and you smile along with them.

You don’t tell them about the FBI agents but why would you. In the end, they don’t have anything to do with the story, apart from the eye contact with the one that is apparently called agent Carroll.

 

“You joining us for a game of mahjong today?”

You nod, sitting down at the round table.

“Sounds lovely Janice”

 

In the end, you lose again, but you don’t mind. It’s how it always goes and how it will always will be. And you don’t mind at all.

Once again leaving the common room of the retirement home, you head for the break room to get your things on your way to the mental hospital for a today’s shift.

 

\---

 

“Is it just me, or is something fishy going on there?” Sam asks while Dean cruises the parking lot, on the way to the exit.

 

“Whatever happened in that room, it must have been a hunter. A new one by the looks of it.”

 

“Why do you suspect it’s a newbie?” Sam frowns as Dean carefully manoeuvres onto the busy road.

 

“Well, an experienced hunter would not have left a mess like that.” Dean never once takes his eyes of the road. He just has gotten baby back, he isn’t going to risk damaging his precious car again soon.

 

“I don’t know Dean. These were really specific things left behind. For example, why were there just a few streaks of ash? Where was the rest of the pile? Where was the burn spot? And why was there only a little bit of salt? You’d need at least a circle of salt to protect the patient in the room. Maybe it was a hunter, telling us it’s their turf?”

 

“Why not warn us in the first place?”

 

“Maybe they didn’t want their cover blown. I don’t know. All I know is that we should keep eye on this hospital. Something is going on there, and I intend to find out what. The director seemed not at all fazed by whatever is going on. He knows more, I’m sure of it.”

 

\---

 

“You sure they believed you? We’re talking about the Winchesters. Freakin Winchesters, you hear me?”

The mysterious person paces up and down the director’s office, inspecting some of the licenses hanging on the wall.

“You got a sweet deal going on here. You even sold your soul for it. They have the potential to get this place shut down. They know a lot of powerful… beings in their world. My world.”

 

Suddenly, the black eyes focus on the director.

“We have more patients than ever and a good deal with the other side, allowing them to feed on the… annoying ones. Or have fun with them. With that many mental people dying here, we should be glad to not have many malicious ghosts popping up. “

All the hospital director manages is to nod, slightly frightened for what the demon in front of him might do.  
“Truth be told, an operation like this is not something easily hidden. I hope you realize that a pair of widely known hunters is sure to ruin that. You get it, right?”

 

The hospital director looks scared, and hesitantly nods.

 

“They believed…”

 

The door opens, interrupting the director. One of the nurses walks in.

“You instructed everyone to update you on the FBI agents, right?”

 

The director nods. “What about them?”

 

“Just before leaving here, I caught them snooping around in the room where the last attempted suicide had taken place. They told me they wanted to make sure they didn’t miss anything, but I am pretty sure the door was locked. Honestly, they were acting kind of weird.”

 

The director’s eyes widen momentarily, before returning to their usual state. As if it never happened. “Thank you for informing me, you may leave now.”

 

The nurse simply nods, turning around and leaving the room again.

 

“See? We got enough on our hands with the hunter that’s residing among us. You know how much trouble it is to get others to come here when there is a big chance they’re getting ganked by a hunter? Imagine how hard this hospital will spiral down once the Winchesters mix in.”

 

The director swallows, looking troubled. “I will have them taken care of.”

 

“Get your shit together director. The Winchesters will be watching this hospital. And I don’t want to have to be the one to fix it.”

 

\--,--,--,--


End file.
